The Korea Maritime Institute issued a call for South Korea to boost vessel efficiency.

In the context of more stringent environmental regulations on shipping being implemented by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) Wednesday issued a call for South Korea to inspect the fuel efficiency of the country's fleet and prepare actions to boost vessel efficiency, Korea Bizwire reports.

A recent study by KMI, which covered 890 Korean vessels plying international routes, showed that 248 of those ships, or 28 percent, were operating at low levels of fuel efficiency.

As these vessels no longer present a competitive edge, KMI recommends that these ships be decommissioned and replaced with high-efficiency, environmentally-friendly vessels as soon as possible.

KMI further recommends that the government should expand the country's bulk carrier newbuild initiatives as the vessels are in high demand by local shipping companies.

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KMI further recommends that the government should expand the country's bulk carrier newbuild initiatives

In order to encourage vessel owners to decommission inefficient ships, KMI suggest the provision of subsidies to support companies to place newbuild orders - a policy that has been utilised by the Chinese government since 2013.

The KMI notes that, over the last 20 years, the average life expectancy of South Korean vessels has increased from 12.6 years to 13.8 years, while the other nine leading maritime countries' average vessel life expectancy decreased from 15.1 years to 12.1 years.